Operate InstaCloud infrastructure with the `insta` CLI: create projects, add postgres/storage/compute services, deploy apps, create disposable branch environments (isolated DB + storage + compute per branch), bind service credentials into compute env, wire user secrets into `.env`, run multiple agen

InstaCloud Agent execution mode (managed Platform) agent policy is the only policy system. Humans use normal RBAC; only agent requests enter the policy evaluator. The former policy command and approval always flag have been removed. Always use insta agent <command … when invoking the CLI as an agent, including setup and read only commands. Examples include the global flag explicitly; with npx, use npx y insta@latest agent <command … . Do not rely on environment detection alone. Commands explicitly marked for a human admin are relay instructions, not agent tool calls: never execute them yourself or remove agent to bypass a restriction. First run insta agent setup agent in the linked project (or project <id / create <name ). This stores a project bound, 24 hour session in .insta/agent session.json , automatically ignored by Git. It supplements the existing user login. Missing, expired, revoked or wrong project sessions fail with setup guidance; never retry a rejected agent request without agent . Known Codex/Claude Code/Cursor environments also activate agent mode; generic CI or lack of TTY does not. MCP tool calls are automatically agent requests. Inspect insta agent agent policy get json for the current mode and protected branches. All projects initially use full access . In branch developer , protected writes are denied; risky unprotected operations require human approval. Forward the approval command to a human admin and retry the unchanged original request only after approval; agents cannot approve their own requests. Details and SQL limitations: [governance.md](references/governance.md). This protocol requires the managed Platform version that supports agent sessions; older/OSS endpoints do not implement it, and session errors are not a reason to silently switch execution identity. InstaCloud provisions and governs a project's cloud services behind one CLI and one credential seam. The insta CLI talks only to the InstaCloud control plane — you never configure a cloud backend directly. A project can have any number of services , added on demand. The common service types you build directly against are: postgres — relational DB born at its plan's resource ceiling (move it within the free cap on any plan with insta agent db limits ; above the free cap needs a paid plan). Plain Postgres: connect any driver/ORM directly with the DATABASE URL you bind into compute env (below) — no vendor SDK or vendor skill. The DB is also publicly dialable from outside compute: insta agent db url prints the connection string and insta agent db connect opens a psql session — that's how you (or a human) reach it from a laptop, a migration script, or any external tool. It scales to zero when idle, so keep your pool's idleTimeoutMillis under the suspend window (see [frameworks.md](references/frameworks.md)). storage — S3 compatible object/blob storage. Point any S3 library at the bound AWS / BUCKET NAME env — no vendor SDK. Set the endpoint explicitly or the client talks to real AWS; each branch normally gets its own forked bucket (legacy pre snapshot projects share one — see below). See [storage.md](references/storage.md). compute — your container(s) at a public URL. A project can have several compute services (e.g. api , worker ). redis/mysql/mongodb — managed Fly backed data services. They expose connection env names such as REDIS URL , MYSQL URL , and MONGODB URL . A new project starts empty — no services are created automatically. Add what you need: insta agent services add postgres <name , insta agent services add compute <name , insta agent services add storage <name , insta agent services add redis <name , etc. A project may have multiple services of every type (up to 5 per type). Provider credentials are scoped to the service that minted them and use canonical names inside that scope ( DATABASE URL , REDIS URL , MYSQL URL , MONGODB URL , AWS ACCESS KEY ID , BUCKET NAME , …). The local dev seam ( insta agent secrets → .env , insta agent run ) carries one set per type, from that type's primary service on the branch — but they do not automatically appear in compute env : a container gets a provider credential only through an explicit binding, and a non primary same type service is not in the bundle: for postgres read it with insta agent db url group <name ; for every other type there is no direct read at all — bind it, or read the env of a compute service it is bound to with insta agent secrets service compute/<name . Bind the credentials a compute service needs, then deploy — or, if the service is already running, insta agent compute restart (CLI ≥ 0.0.51) to pick the binding up without deploying a new one. It re runs the image reference already recorded, so a service on a moving tag ( app:latest ) still gets whatever that tag resolves to now — see [operate.md](references/operate.md) before using it on production: Binding is for compute env only. To use a credential yourself — run migrations, inspect data, point a local tool at the DB — read the value directly: insta agent db url (postgres connection string; insta agent db connect for a psql shell). Use insta agent services rename <type <name <new name to rename a service; existing bindings keep pointing at that service. Install & upgrade the CLI If command v insta finds nothing, install it (never assume it's present): The CLI is pre 1.0 and ships often. If a command misbehaves or is unrecognized, update first : insta agent upgrade (CLIs that have it; auto update is on by default pre 1.0 — insta agent autoupdate off to disable), else re run the installer (idempotent) or npm update g insta . Two targets, one CLI The same commands drive both. Resolve which one you're on from insta agent status ( api: line): InstaCloud (managed cloud) — requires insta agent login (agents: email/ password or an API token; humans: bare insta agent login opens the console sign in/approval page in the browser — any account type; headless machine with a human reachable elsewhere: device prints a link + code they approve from any other browser). insta oss (self hosted local daemon) — INSTA API URL=http://127.0.0.1:8080 (its default). No login exists or is needed (localhost trust, builtin local user); billing/usage/metrics return clear "cloud only" errors — don't retry them. Tool routing: CLI vs MCP InstaCloud has two agent facing operation paths. This skill + the CLI is the default for everything — the CLI covers the full command surface (bar a few MCP only read only diagnostics, listed in mcp.md), carries linked repo context ( .insta/project.json ), and is the only path for local machine state: auth ( insta agent login ), pulling secret values ( insta agent secrets / insta agent run , and the postgres DSN via insta agent db url / insta agent db connect ), source directory deploys ( insta agent deploy <dir ), and the observe hook. Fall back to the remote MCP tools ( insta ) only when the CLI can't be invoked: no shell (hosted agents like Claude.ai / ChatGPT connectors), or the CLI isn't installed and can't be (the common case is fixable with no CLI on PATH: npx y insta@latest agent setup agent y self installs it — see self heal below). Same platform API, same governance gates, same audit trail — but MCP tools take explicit projectId / branch args : never assume the CLI's linked context carries over; resolve IDs first ( insta project list ) and pass them explicitly. Full mapping + connection guide: [mcp.md](references/mcp.md) . Self heal: if the insta skill or the insta MCP tools are expected but missing, run insta agent setup agent y (installs the skill + registers MCP for Claude Code and every detected agent), then tell the user to restart their coding tool — a running session never picks up newly registered MCP servers or tools. One specific agent: insta agent mcp install agent <slug . Registration alone does not authenticate the client; actual tool use requires a completed OAuth flow or an authorized credential. The mcp token option requires token creation permission; an agent denied with 403 unclassified agent action must stop that attempt, not retry as human. For unattended authentication, read [mcp.md](references/mcp.md connecting). Intent based routing Route by intent before running preflight ceremony: "Ship / deploy this app" (from zero): don't interrogate state first — run the chain and announce it: insta agent status (logged in? linked?) → if unauthenticated on cloud, insta agent login → if unlinked, insta agent project create <dir name → insta agent services add postgres db (if the app needs a DB) + insta agent services add compute app → bind needed service credentials into compute ( insta agent secrets sources , then insta agent secrets bind DATABASE URL postgres/db to compute/app ) → insta agent deploy . port <the port the app listens on → verify the printed URL serves (below). The app reads process.env creds. "Set up / onboard / sign up": cloud → insta agent login (browser sign in; relay the printed link if no browser opens) or email/ password ; then insta agent project create . Local/oss → nothing to set up beyond the daemon. A unit of work on an existing project (feature, fix, experiment, agent task): one branch per unit of work — see the core principle below and [branching.md](references/branching.md) . Never develop on main . Anything else (configure, debug, inspect): light preflight, then the matching reference below. Preflight & context (before mutations) Skip this ceremony for the ship from zero chain above — status is its first step already. Context rules (multi agent safety): The link ( ./.insta/project.json ) is per directory and includes the current branch. Prefer explicit branch <name on commands that accept it ( secrets , deploy , metrics , logs , events , db url / db connect — a wrong branch DSN means querying the wrong database) over insta agent branch switch when acting on a branch you don't own — switch mutates the shared per directory link and races parallel agents in the same checkout. For parallel agents, the rule is 1:1:1 — task ↔ git worktree ↔ insta branch (each worktree has its own link, so switch is safe there). See [branching.md](references/branching.md). Core principle One unit of work = one branch = one isolated environment. insta agent branch create <name materializes the parent branch's current services onto the new branch — a CoW database branch (copy of the parent's data), a CoW forked storage bucket, and a clone of every compute service (own URL each), created at branch create , so a branch is a complete runnable environment from the start. Branches run fully in parallel; nothing one does touches another. ≤10 branches per project (hard limit). Don't develop on main ; don't pile multiple features on one branch. Multiple independent features (or agent tasks) at once? Give each its own branch and its own subagent — isolated DB + storage + compute + URLs mean zero collision. See [branching.md](references/branching.md) → Parallel agents . Verify before reporting (deploys) Never report a deploy as successful from the command exiting alone. insta agent deploy prints the branch URL on success — that means the platform accepted and rolled the machine, not that the app serves: 1. Poll the printed URL ( curl s o /dev/null w '%{http code}' ) every ~3s for up to ~60s. A scale to zero service (created with no always on , or switched off with insta agent compute always on off ) cold starts on the first request — allow a slow first hit. New compute services are born always on (since 2026 09 07) and skip this; see